Motown legends The Four Tops and The Temptations have announced that Odyssey will join them as special guests on their UK tour in November. The UK chart-toppers have been confirmed as special guests for all dates except Liverpool. Native New Yorker was a UK Top 5 hit for Odyssey in 1977 and the trio fronted by Lillian Lopez followed up with a string of UK hits in the eighties.
The Four Tops and The Temptations will be performing some of their most popular and award-winning songs that continue to inspire musicians around the globe. The Tamla Motown label broke down cultural and social barriers and The Four Tops and The Temptations were at the very forefront of that transformative period. Original members, Duke Fakir and Otis Williams, of the Four Tops and Temptations respectively, hold a special place in the hearts of British fans, and they are both delighted to be returning to the UK for the 2020 8-date concert tour in October and November.
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch), Reach Out I’ll Be There, Standing In The Shadows Of Love, Bernadette, and Walk Away Renee are all timeless Four Tops’ classics that need little, or no, introduction and they enjoyed a revival of fortunes when Loco In Acapulco, from the film Buster, was a UK hit in 1988. Four Tops founder member Duke Fakir is joined by Ronnie McNeir, Lawrence Payton Jr and Joseph Alex Morris a truly fine vocalist with a commanding delivery in the current line-up.
Temptations’ blockbuster No.1 hits Just My Imagination, Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, and My Girl are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s ‘500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll’ The Temptations, throughout the group’s evolution, have produced 53 Billboard Hot 100 Hit singles, including four that became No.1 Pop singles. Additionally, they released 43 Top 10 R&B hit singles, 14 of which were No.1 R&B hits, including timeless classics such as Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, Beauty is Only Skin Deep, and I Wish It Would Rain. Otis Williams, the sole surviving original Temptation, Ron Tyson, a lead vocalist for 37 years, Terry Weeks, a lead vocalist for 23 years, and Willie Greene, Jr., base vocalist with the group for four years, are still serenading fans with their soulful voices, lighting up stages with their famous Temptations’ Walk, and bringing joy to audiences of all ages.
Following their initial 1977 UK success with Native New Yorker, Odyssey returned to the UK charts with Use It Up And Wear It Out which spent two weeks at Number 1 in 1980. If You’re Looking For A Way Out, Going Back To My Roots and Inside Out were all Top 10 smashes on this side of the Atlantic. Steven Collazo joined his mother Lillian Lopez in the band and they continued performing across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Steven continues to lead Odyssey keeping the memory of his late mother very much alive.
